Ugo Rondinone

wisdom? peace? blank? all of this?

An exhibition organized by the Kunsthistorisches Museum, curated by Jasper Sharp

After a three-year refurbishment, the Theseus Temple will now serve as the venue for a new series of exhibitions: returning the building to its original function, each show presents a single seminal work by a contemporary artist. Each of these artworks also represents a dialogue with the collections and the history of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

In the middle of leafy Volksgarten stands an old, gnarled olive tree in an otherwise empty building. It was cast by Ugo Rondinone from a two-thousand-year-old living tree in a field in Basilicata in southern Italy – every bump, scratch or scar carefully rendered. Painted white and lit by continually changing daylight, the tree seems magical, unfathomable – as though from another world.

The Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone is one of the most successful artists of his generation. Comprising different media such as painting, sculpture, film and installation, his oeuvre features a rich and multifacetted system of references. A particular focus of his work is an attempt to visualize temporality and the opposing poles of the spiritual and the quotidian.